the stench of rotting meat
we finally discovered the dead rat that was causing the stench in the basement
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The Miami Herald reported that detainees are sleeping on cement floors amid the stench of body odor and raw sewage.—Clara-Sophia Daly, Miami Herald, 10 Apr. 2025 Even wrapped in paper, the stench of the aptly named stinkhorn mushrooms was overpowering, but the woman stifled a laugh upon overhearing two other passengers gripe about the swarm of flies around them.—Alla Katsnelson, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2025 But the stench went on to spread to her bedroom and the rest of her apartment.—Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 13 Mar. 2025 The stench is coming from the dewatering of the lake formed from 40 years of rainwater filling the dormant, open mine pit that closed in 1988.—Catherine Muccigrosso, Charlotte Observer, 3 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for stench
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Old English stenc; akin to Old English stincan to emit a smell — more at stink
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of stench was
before the 12th century
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